How Many?
by AristaHolmes
Summary: She finds her way back to him, but time has passed. She can see it in his eyes, and in the way he's regenerated, and Rose has questions that need answering before she can allow herself the comfort of falling apart in his arms. One-Shot Rose/Eleven Reunion.


The Doctor couldn't quite believe his eyes.

Standing there in front of him was Rose Tyler. It shouldn't be possible. It _wasn't_ possible, and yet... there she was. Looking exactly the same as the last time he'd laid eyes on her, kissing his copy at Bad Wolf Bay.

She'd let herself into the Tardis, and the brightened hum of his ship alerted him to her presence even before Amy's coarse shout of "Oi! Who the hell are you?"

He remembered running up the stairs from the lower section of the console, only to stop dead on the top step and just stare at the blonde staring up at the redesigned console, and being vaguely aware of Rory dragging Amy from the room when Rose met his eyes and her brilliant smile made the rest of the universe simply melt away.

There was joy there in her eyes. Time itself was swirling there, combined with relief and then something else took over, and fear flashed in those golden brown orbs and his hearts clenched tight. He'd regenerated, of course she wouldn't be glad to see him, but it was when her smile faded away like smoke on the breeze and her eyes filled with barely held back tears that his hearts broke.

He moved swiftly, stepping up into the main console room and making his way forward to comfort her before he'd consciously made the decision to do so, but he came to a dead stop beside the console when she flinched.

"Stop," she told him, and a lump was forming in his throat and he didn't know if he'd managed to hide the hurt he felt, but guessing from the flash of guilt on her face he'd failed.

"How many?" she asked a moment later, her voice hoarse with unshed tears and she was clearly struggling to keep control of the whirlwind of emotions he could see in her eyes, but he couldn't answer, his eyes sliding away from her for the first time since they'd locked onto her, and he let his gaze settle on the Tardis column, feeling his feature's darken at the memory of the years spent without her by his side, her hand in his, running together.

"How many years has it been? How many others have you travelled with?" she asked, and his eyes flicked back to her as she clarified her initial question. He could see the shame she felt at asking the questions, but he understood. She was only human. She'd told him she loved him, and he'd never said it back. He'd never given her the validation of his own feelings and she'd needed that to stay as sure of him and he is of her.

Then her own eyes lowered to the floor of the Tardis, and her hair fell over her beautiful face, hiding those emotive eyes from him as she whispered one more question that unfroze his tongue.

"How many times have you forgotten my name?"

He took a slow step towards her, drawing her eyes back to him as he answered, approaching the suddenly skittish blonde before him one careful step at a time.

"It's been about three hundred years... I've been travelling with the Ponds... and I've never forgotten you, Rose Tyler," he swore softly, oddly surprised that he was still able to wrap her name around his tongue despite the new body. He saw her swallow hard and tense her jaw as she braved meeting his eyes again and he gave her a small sad smile that she returned, but her own smile was tinged with bitterness.

"Right. But you've tried," she said quietly, and he hesitantly let her see the pain in his eyes as he rested his hands against her upper arms, fighting the ever present urge to pull her tight against him.

"Of course I've tried, remembering hurts," he whispered and with that all her doubts disappeared, and he gasped as he watched her eyes clear but then she was against him, her arms curling around his neck and his hands flailed for a moment before they settled against her waist, fitting perfectly above her hips and he slid them around her, crushing her against him as he released his control on his own body and buried his face against the crook of her neck breathing in the scent of her that he'd all but forgotten.

"Rose," he choked out, tears welling in his eyes now that he'd dropped so many of his barriers, and her response in his ear healed his shattered soul just a tiny piece at a time.

"My Doctor..."


End file.
